View: Kristjaan Speakman working wonders at Sunderland amid transfer links
Dennis Cirkin, Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham have all been linked with multi-million moves away from Sunderland in January and it is credit to the work done by Kristjaan Speakman.
Speakman has came in for plenty of criticism on Wearside, most notably for what seemed like a never-ending pursuit of a striker although that saga ended with the capture of Wilson Isidor, who has been an excellent pickup.
Many of the players linked with moves away have been signings made under Speakman that would see the club profit significantly and he deserves to be praised for what he has done.
Sunderland are fortunate to have Kristjaan Speakman
With Leeds being linked with Dennis Cirkin (Sunday Mirror) and Borussia Dortmund being rumoured to hold an interest in Jobe (the Sun), massive credit has to go to Speakman for making the signings in the first place.
Almost every permanent signing made under him, will see the club profit in the future while benefitting from their on field performances.
For many years, Sunderland were seen as a club who only had short-term ambitions although that has changed drastically over the last several years.
Jobe is perhaps the best example to showcase the work Speakman has done. Having signed for a reported £3million (Sunderland Echo), he has since gone on to be a standout player at the club, being linked with European moves worth north of £20m.
It is a very similar model that saw Brighton go from an EFL club to one capable of challenging for Europe. Sign low, develop players and sell for huge profit while following the same process again.
Of course, there have been signings at the club that haven’t worked out, as there will be anywhere, but the majority of the work done by Speakman has transformed Sunderland as a club and really put them on the radar and he deserves huge credit for it.
In other Sunderland news, Simon Moore believes that Anthony Patterson can “play at the top” amid Premier League transfer links.
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